Friend jailed after assaulting victim and stealing vehicle

Paora Henare Hine was considered a family friend, but then he stole his mate’s car and assaulted him while wielding a steel bar.

Hine appeared before Judge Tony Greig in the New Plymouth District Court yesterday facing a raft of charges including robbery, possession of a weapon, failing to stop for police, theft of a motor vehicle, dangerous driving and driving while disqualified.

Hine had previously pleaded guilty to the charges after being given a sentencing indication last year.

A police summary of facts stated at 10am on April 10, 2020, Hine went to his victim’s home in Tikorangi.

Hine smashed the driver’s side window of the victim’s 2006 Chrysler, which was valued at $15,000, but the alarm went off. After getting the bonnet open Hine was trying to disconnect the battery to stop the alarm when the victim appeared and asked what he was doing.

Hine brandished a black steel bar and demanded the keys to the car before charging at the victim and punching him in the left eye.

The force of the impact caused the victim to fall backwards through a glass panel in a sliding door.

Hine then punched the victim in the ribs while he was curled up in the foetal position on the ground.

While the victim was still curled up on the ground, Hine grabbed the car keys and drove off, followed by an unknown associate in a grey Subaru Forester.

Hine later tried ransoming the car for $1500, threatening he would set it alight if the police were called.

Police recovered the car three days later, at an abandoned building in Waitara, but all four wheels had been removed and the driver’s door handle had been torn off.

The wheels were later recovered at an Inglewood address and returned to the owner.

Hine actively evaded police until he was arrested on April 19, on other matters and gave no explanation for stealing the car.

Defence lawyer Paul Keegan said Hine was caught in a cycle of drug addiction, committing crime to fuel his drug use and being incarcerated.

Keegan said Hine first used cannabis when he was 11 years old and methamphetamine when he was 16.

Crown prosecutor Laura Blencowe said Hine had been given rehabilitative sentences previously and nothing had worked.

Judge Greig sentenced Hine to a total of 38 months’ imprisonment and disqualified him from driving for three years.